“It’s not that easy bein’ green”

So lamented Kermit the Frog back in 1970 ⁽¹⁾, and while our favourite Muppet may not have been referring to investment managers at the time, it has certainly turned out that way for many large players both here in Australia and abroad.  

One doesn’t have to go too deep into a newspaper to see that the level of dissent in Australia is rising. Whilst protests have been very much part of Australia’s history since the first fleet, disagreement continues to shape both social and cultural change.

Just like the rise of streaming services that allow you to personalise your playlist or insurance policies tailored to how you drive your vehicle, technology is enabling a new wave of investment customisation for every individual. For investors, it is Direct Indexing that delivers the benefits of customisation by means of an institutional-grade portfolio designed and managed, just for them.

The rise and rise of passive investing, particularly via Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), has led to a shift away from actively managed funds. The next evolution in this trend, Direct Indexing, allows investors to enjoy all of the benefits of passive investing whilst enabling active personalisation. Thanks to advances in technology, the strategies that were until recently reserved only for institutional investors, can now be easily accessed by a far wider range of investors.

Almost every investment and investor, pay taxes. What many taxable investors don’t pay a great deal of attention to (if at all), is evaluating investment performance on an after-tax basis. In the financial advice world, where the cost of compliance and delivery of advice continues to grow, every dollar saved makes a material difference.

Many of us who have had the privilege to work in financial markets for some years would have been taught the lesson of humility relatively early on in our careers. The trade-idea that didn’t work as planned, the alpha signal that despite weeks of research, fell flat once traded, or the portfolio hedge that did anything but.

With the recent explosion of index mutual funds and ETFs, the menu of investment options available to investors continues to expand. As of August 2023, there are over 300 Exchange Traded Products on the Australian Stock Exchange, representing more than $150Bn AUD.

Personalisation in the world of finance and investment management takes on many different characteristics.

Many of you reading this will be intimately familiar with the laborious & difficult nature of portfolio construction.

Why do we tell stories?

The investment management industry has evolved greatly since the advent of the ticker tape in the 1860’s.

Hyper personalisation is now very much part of our every day lives.